Foundations have a long history of investing in the creation and revitalization of neighborhoods. For example, in 1909, the Russell Sage Foundation developed Forest Hills Gardens in Queens, N.Y., as a suburb with “homes for the poor and middleincome workmen of Manhattan” on 142 acres of land.
Almost 90 years later, the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation launched its Neighborhood Partners Initiative1 to support sustainable improvements – from enhancing parks, playgrounds, and public safety to creating job placement programs and technology centers – in Central Harlem and the South Bronx. While foundations have long been involved in improving living conditions in this way, in recent years a new trend has emerged called “hometown philanthropy.”
Serving From Within
Foundations are now relocating their offices and facilities to the very communities that they seek to assist.2 Those who participated in a site visit at the 2005 Council on Foundations annual meeting in San Diego saw an example firsthand in the city’s “Diamond” neighborhood.
In that case, the Jacobs Family Foundation3 purchased over 10 acres of property that once housed an aerospace factory. It then worked with nearby residents to create Market Creek Plaza,4 a vibrant commercial and cultural center. Believing that resident ownership of community development cannot be supported from the “other side of town,” the foundation also headquartered itself in the heart of the Diamond neighborhood and established the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation. (See SSIR vol. 3, no. 1, p. 52.)
Other foundations have engaged in similar efforts. In 2001, the Public Welfare Foundation5 moved from the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. to the Shaw neighborhood, which was to African-American cultural life in D.C. what Harlem was to New York during the Harlem Renaissance. 6 The area had been devastated by the urban riots of the 1960s and had become increasingly blighted.
The foundation purchased the True Reformer building – the nation’s first post-Reconstruction building designed, financed, built, and owned by the African-American community – which stood empty at the time. The foundation then donated space to the Manna Community Development Corporation for its offices; created meeting spaces available to community groups; and partnered with Manna to build a dozen houses for moderate-income community members.
In 1981, the Meadows Foundation7 in Dallas decided to preserve some of the city’s last Victorian structures and create a community of nonprofit organizations. Out of these efforts came the foundation-owned and operated Wilson Historic District,8 which today provides offices, free of charge, for 25 nonprofit agencies on 22 acres. The foundation located itself nearby.
Other foundations have found more modest ways to contribute to their communities. The Consuelo Foundation set up shop in Honolulu’s historic Chinatown. When the Russell Family Foundation in Gig Harbor, Wash., built new offices, it included a rooftop garden with a harbor viewing plaza open to the public. The Independence Community Foundation in Brooklyn, N.Y., spun off by Independence Community Bank, is located on the site of the former bank and provides “quality-of-life” grants for local beautification, graffiti removal, neighborhood cleanups, events, and festivals.
Lessons Learned
All of these grantmakers have learned a great deal about their new communities, their grantees, and themselves. All had to keep their assumptions in check about what the community wanted and elicit the viewpoints of residents. They became accustomed to a role as long-term investors, leading to a web of more intimate and engaged relationships between grantors and the beneficiaries of grantees than is normally the case. They also learned that working holistically within communities can have an enormous impact – contributing to local economies, preserving history, facilitating nonprofit collaboration, modeling sustainability – and sometimes transform the neighborhoods as a result. ####A New Home, A Showcase for Philanthropy When the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers (NYRAG) chose to move to the Union Square neighborhood in lower Manhattan, our organization had already been ratcheting up its efforts to increase awareness among the general public about the values of philanthropy and the work of our members. This had become a particular priority due to recent media and congressional scrutiny of organized philanthropy, and a lack of understanding in many quarters about how the charitable sector operates.
Our members’ presence was readily apparent in our new neighborhood. The Rubin Foundation had recently opened a museum dedicated to Himalayan art three blocks from our building, and other neighboring nonprofit institutions, including the New School, New York University, and the Pratt Institute, enjoyed support from many of our members. Nearby cultural institutions such as the Joyce Theater and the Center for Jewish History had also received substantial charitable support. In fact, we were in the midst of a great civic belt that stretched across the neighborhoods of Chelsea, Greenwich Village, and Union Square, a National Historic Landmark with a rich history of civic action.
In designing our new 10,000- square-foot space in the same building as the Foundation Center, our first objective was to serve as a knowledge hub for our members, where we could host programs, seminars, meetings, and other educational offerings. We created a conference and event facility that can accommodate up to 100 people.
Inspired by the stories of the “hometown” foundations described in this article, we felt that we could demonstrate in a very concrete way what philanthropy was all about. We wanted to make NYRAG itself a “public square” for all of our constituencies – grantmakers, nonprofits, government officials, and the media – a place where we could showcase the work of the charitable sector. We also felt that we could create a space whose very design, construction, and daily operations would embody and express our members’ core values and communicate the importance of their work.
In keeping with the interest of some of our members in sustainable development, we took a “green” approach to the site’s design and construction. A top-notch team of architects certified by LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) from the firm Holzman Moss customized the space. When evaluating construction bids, we gave preference to contractors with a history of hiring employees and subcontractors from diverse backgrounds; the winning firm’s crew represented 20 different nationalities. Whenever possible, we used nonprofit vendors. For example, we contracted Alpha Workshops, a not-for-profit decorative painting and design organization that trains and employs people living with HIV/AIDS, to design a textile wallcovering for part of our space.
Since unbridled renovation and new construction cause grave environmental damage in the form of tons of current and future landfill waste, we sought to recycle as much of our existing space as possible. Fortunately, we inherited an attractive set of offices that needed minimal construction work, which allowed our creative team to focus on the meeting and welcome areas. Demolition plans were created to remove materials only from those areas that would require alteration. More energy-efficient lighting was employed in existing light fixtures, and motion sensors were installed so that lights went on only when people were in the rooms. Carpeting in heavily trafficked areas was eliminated so that the original hardwood flooring – with lower risk of mold, dust, and mildew – could be exposed. And carpeting in offices and meeting areas was either carefully preserved or replaced with carpet made from recycled remnants.
A team of architecture students from nearby Parsons School of Design helped furnish our “breakout area” by constructing three benches from wood found in nearby dumpsters. New furniture was made from recycled materials and the walls were painted with products containing low levels of VOCs (volatile organic compounds). Water-based adhesives, paints, and stains were used. Because cork is a rapidly renewable product, cork tiles were tapped for use as decorative wall panels. With these features, we made our own modest contribution to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, trash production, and energy consumption. Our intent is to have NYRAG’s home demonstrate practical responses to threats like global warming, an issue that is the focus of a number of our members.
We found that balancing our financial constraints and our values was considerably easier than we had expected. And we found that sustainability pays. Overall renovation costs were $57 per square foot (with union labor) as compared to the estimated $250-plus per square foot for standard commercial construction in Manhattan.
With the opening of NYRAG’s new headquarters in May 2005, 79 Fifth Avenue has become even more of a nonprofit destination. It will serve as a beacon, a hub like the Union Square area that surrounds it, welcoming everyone who wants to learn more about the contributions the charitable sector makes to the metropolitan New York region, the nation, and the world.
Source Editorial and research assistance provided by Angela Bonavoglia.
1 “In Depth: Neighborhood Partners Initiative,” Edna McConnell Clark Foundation http://www.emcf.org/programs/nyn/nyn_ indepth.htm.
2 A. Sojourner, P. Brown, R.Chaskin, R. Hamilton, L. Fiester, and H. Richman, “Moving Forward While Staying in Place: Embedded Funders and Community Change,” Chapin Hall Center for Children, University of Chicago, 2004. www.chapinhall.org.
3 Jacobs Family Foundation Web site: www.jacobsfamilyfoundation. org/about us.html.
4 “Market Creek Plaza: Toward Resident Ownership of Neighborhood Change,” PolicyLink Case Study, March 14, 2005.
5 Public Welfare Foundation Web site: www.publicwelfare.org.
6M.D. Goldman, “Future Use of Shaw Building Rooted in Historic Past,” Washington Business Journal, Feb. 9, 2001.
7 Meadows Foundation Web site: www.mfi.org.
8 Preservation Dallas Web site: http://preservationdallas. org/wilson/wilson_tenants.asp.
Read more stories by Michael Seltzer.